LOBBS

Thanks all, I have the Monogram ZR1 and its batwing is at least an 1/8 inch too wide (and due to it's shape, I'm not too sure how I'd narrow it and keep it looking right) but very well engraved. The AMT C4 batwing is almost exactly the perfect width but lacking in the quality department. From what I can tell, the Monogram C4's are on the large end of 1/24th scale and the Revell '69s are pretty much dead on 1/25th scale. All the suspension pieces from the Monogram kit, when I start mocking them up against the '69 frame, look abnormally huge. I'll have to get back to the drawing board to figure out which way to go. Thanks again.

No, it's really a Greenwood Daytona 5-link setup for the C3 Vettes. The C3 Vettes went to an aluminum batwing setup late in the series. According to my research in the 1:1 Vette forums the hot set-up for guys not wanting to do a full C4 conversion on the C3s is to swap in the batwing crossmembers (to save considerable weight) with their stronger iron diffs and run a 5 or 6 link setup similiar to this. I'm up in the air whether I want to model up this option, do a full C4 or a 6-link setup with the '69 parts. All three would have their pros and cons in 1:1 and in 1:25th scale.

I'm wanting to see if it has the "bat wing" rear crossmember like the one in this pic If it's not done in the Revell kit is it in the MPC Vettes? TIA

I've drawn up a sheet of window logos (the same as my avatar but with a white background) in several different sizes. I'm going to need to find someone who can print the artwork in plain white and then I can lay the color decal down over that. The design just gets too small to print on white decal paper and trim away the excess. TIA

A few weeks ago, I ran into a problem with the interior on my '69 Vette. It's a stupidly simple detail that when finished won't even be noticed unless you know it wasn't originally there. I had originally planned on just using some red-painted medical tape for a headliner and calling the underside of the body done. That plan went to heck when I was test fitting the main roll cage hoop using my red interior tub and spare body. As I was looking into the side window checking for clearance I noticed how horrible the voids on each side of the rear window looked. For whatever reason, both Revell and AMT chose to mold their coupes' sail panels on each side of the rear window hollow. The Revell kit I understand as it was originally kitted as a roadster and the detail from the door panels down is excellent. Now, had I been using black or another dark color it wouldn't have been as noticeable but bright red shows off the glaring omission. Here are the panels that are missing: The interior quarter panels The rear window header panel How it all comes together For some reason this has really been a complex chore for me. There's a lot a concave surfaces coming together in a small space and I've added the complication that I'm trying to scratch it up in my spare body and then move the whole thing into my already finished body (I really don't want to mess up the paint while I experiment). Oh yeah, since I'm gonna have to fix that detail I'm might as well do the underside of the T-Tops too.

Here's the one that I know of. http://modeltech.tripod.com/

Here's my Tomb Raider Rubicon by Revell. Yeah, the body's a diecast but that didn't really matter to me. I love Wranglers although I don't normally build off-road vehicles. This was my first attempt at any serious weathering on a model.

The can on the left should be FP101. It'll say so down by the bar code somewhere. I primed my Revell '06 Z06 (new plastic) with it but went very, very light with the coats. That should let the paint gas out before it has a chance to eat into the plastic. I saw no signs of crazing whatsoever.

I've been using the Duplicolor FP101 filling sandable for years. I've never had any problems with it crazing the new Revell plastic if put on with a few mists coats first.

I seriously needed a break from my interior frustrations so I knocked out this little mini project. This is where I break from reality with this project. In all honesty, I wouldn't go bigger than 18" on a car like this but the design of the wheels (the ability to widen them easily) dictated that I use the 20+" from the California Wheels series. Here, I've added about 3 scale inches to the back wheels to fill out the flares by taking a spare set of inner halves and shaving .080" off of them. They now tuck in nicely to the original (spokes) halves while keeping the same backspacing. These are on the way to the purple pond as they'll be polished aluminum with black spokes the next time you see them. I've special ordered some Loctite "Black Max" superglue through a local auto parts store and when it comes in I'll start working on widening the tires also. Thanks for looking.

I'm looking for the article from SA (no E) magazine from awhile back (last year sometime?) that had a photoetching how-to. I'm pretty sure that the resist material was Press-n-Peel Blue but just needed to confirm. If anyone could scan and email it for me or at look this up for me I'd greatly appreciate it. TIA

Perfection

I used those very instructions from the link (thanks Klaus) several years ago. I built a downdraft style booth for around $120 bucks and it was awesome. I'm actually on my Gen 2 design now (basically just wanted to improve a few things after building the 1st). 14x25" stage so I can use a standard furnace filter. I don't remember which Dayton blower I bought now but going with a downdraft I got away with a lot less CFMs. Here she is just before I put here into service.

Those are great too, thanks Darin

Those'll be great, thanks Izzy

I can't for the life of me find my reference material for the fuel and brake line routing for my '69 Vette project and need some good pics of the underside of any Shark. TIA

2003 Dodge Durango. Optioned similiarly to the 2wd 5.9L R/T just doesn't have the body color grille and 17" wheels. Future mods are possibly a Hotchkis full vehicle system, wheels/tires and even more remotely a supercharger. Right now my wife drives it more than I do as it'll haul all three kids and the requisite gear that goes with them.

I've been a quality inspector for most of my adult life, currently for a tool and die shop. I'm infinitely more comfortable measuring and doing the math than eyeballing and experimenting. I have a really hard time accepting "close enough," especially with the tools I have at my disposal. Someday, I'll experiment with working with brass. I've been so amped that I'm finally making some progress on this car after four years that I've just been going with the flow using styrene.

I had some fun after work with the Bridgeport and made a little fixture for bending up a full cage for the Vette. It really all started because I didn't feel like modifying the hoop from the S&S kit so I could have a place to mount the 5-points. The bars from the S&S kit are fine for a period-era roadster but that's not what I'm building. I didn't want to waste alot of time and styrene trying to get everything even so I started measuring and drawing on Xara and remeasuring and drawing. Finally, I got a hole pattern with every bend I'll need and hopefully it'll produce a cage that'll fit very snugly in the interior and wouldn't interfere with functionality if it were a 1:1. Here on the fixture is the main hoop cooling off. I ran the rod through the pins, put tension of it, then heated the whole fixture up to around 170 degrees to relax the plastic. The pins headed the opposite way are for the roof hoop. More pics to come and thanks for looking.

Thanks for the heads-up Darin.

I'm looking to find one for parts if the suspension is well done. I'm doing a suspension conversion on my '69 Vette to C4 gear. The AMT C4 'batwing' is the right width but horribly detailed elsewise. The pumpkin and transaxles are a joke. I was planning on using the Dana 44 out of the Revell Viper, the batwing and trailing arms from the AMT 96 Vette and scratching out everything else. The front suspension of the AMT C4's is basically nonexistant and unusuable so I am looking at Revell C5/C6 pieces. I know that Chezoom had a full C4 suspension front and rear and I could have sworn I've seen the pieces used on some other killer builds. It could have been another of the Testors Boyds rides though. There's gonna be a lot of scratchbuilding and I'm just looking for the best starting place.

Looks to be another killer build Marc, I'll be looking for it at the Heartland Nats.

It probably does in the first couple of hours as it helps the paint flash a lot quicker. The Vette was in the dehydrator for months only 'cause life got too busy for me to get back to it any sooner. In addition, I run my downdraft paint booth out the window of my hobby room pretty much 24/7. This keeps the room under a constant vacuum which, I believe, helps prevent dust from settling as badly and also from dust being stirred up by the vacuum created everytime the booth is turned on. My wife goes through a lot of Shout laundry stain remover spray with our three kids' clothes. Everytime she kills a bottle, I grab it, fill it with water and use it to spray the inside of my booth and the stage. I wet down the booth between coats of paint and the Shout seems to help thicken up the water and keep the booth a little wetter longer. If I get a booger in my paint jobs it's usually my own impatience. I usually leave the room for about 5-10 minutes between coats so that I don't stir up dust or have lint or dust come off my clothes and into the wet paint.

Specifically, I'm interested in pics of the front and rear suspensions and underside. TIA

I had originally planned on a Baldwin-Motion style stripe but after getting it taped off I changed my mind and went with the same type as my Z06. Unfortunately, I've got to sand out and re-shoot the red hashes in the morning. I got a big ole finger print in them while I was unmasking her. A piece of tape got hung up on my thumb and rather than drop the whole thing I got a hold of her by the front wheel wells while the red was still a bit soft. My Z06 before it had an unfortunate run in with a kiddo or cat (I can't remember now but the paint was horribly scratched up). These two Vettes are my "lottery" cars, the two gotta haves if I ever hit the big one. The '69 of course is Tamiya gunmetal with Tamiya black stripe and wheels. The Z06 when I get back to it will be Tamiya black with a gunmetal stripe and wheels. More pics to come and thanks for looking.